Carol Marin's column (registration required) in today's Chicago Tribune concerns, um, teenage girls and stripper poles. It's all the rage, you see, for young women to dance (and presumably strip) with the help of this prop. And not only young women, as this November article in the Washington Post makes clear -- strip dance classes are not unusual in exercise clubs these days, it seems. Here's an excerpt from the Post story:

"The television cartoon "Stripperella" features a superhero exotic dancer. Borrowing from the shock jock principle that nudity makes great radio, the Sports Junkies keep a pole in their WHFS-FM studio. In New York, a group called Cake is devoted to women's sexuality and has encouraged its members to strip for each other. And the national gym chain Crunch promotes the idea of stripping as good exercise by offering cardio striptease classes in six cities."

But really, just how common is this activity, especially among young girls? If Marin's sample is representative, it might not yet be time to proclaim the end of Western civilization (though I am not confident): "... I have yet to find a preteen or teenage girl who owns one or has tried one. Maybe it's not as huge a trend as the trend spotters think."